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Courtyard unveiled during Ellendale Fall Festival

ellendale, courtyard, fall festival
Railings salvaged from an old bridge are turned on end to serve as a gate leading into a new courtyard area in downtown Ellendale. The foundation for a 14-foot by 14-foot gazebo has been poured; a fully plumbed, accessible bathroom is also planned for the area. Staff photo by Kay Fate
By
Kay Fate, Staff Writer

Don’t tell Gwen Reiss no.

Or if you do, be prepared to help, or get out of her way.

The latest example of her persistence was on full display during Ellendale’s Fall Festival: A peaceful little courtyard nestled between two buildings on Main Street, featuring a plumbed fountain, benches, flowering plants, grass, a brick walkway and – soon – a gazebo and restroom.

In 2019, Reiss and her husband, Ed, bought the rundown building that once stood there; the city owned it, and charged the couple $1 – with a caveat.

“We had to take it down within a year, or it would revert back to the city,” Ed Reiss said. “I told them, ‘Don’t worry about it. I get things done.’ And it was down in five months and four days.”

Reiss and another man did the demolition themselves, “all by hand, board-by-board,” he said.

A cement slab has been laid for the foundation of a 14-foot by 14-foot, six-sided gazebo. A small building nearby will be turned into an all-access bathroom with running water.

“I thought about putting a shower in there,” Reiss said, but his wife vetoed the idea.

“One guy said I might want to put it in anyway, in case she kicks me out some day,” he laughed.

The pair are no strangers to big projects.

They also bought the former Security State Bank building and created Two Doves Boutique, Reiss’s clothing, décor, and jewelry business. They went to work on it, adding new flooring and paint while keeping much of the building’s original 1900 charm. The vault remains, as does much of the shelving; original brick from the exterior was used inside.

In a nod to the building’s history, Reiss created flooring made of pennies sealed in epoxy.

The new courtyard also has stories to tell, from the fence and gate that came from an old bridge to the bricks that came from the circa-1922 Ellendale school.

Reiss envisions weddings in the gazebo and children reading books from a lending library while seated on a Mother Goose bench she’s installed nearby.

As shoppers visited craft vendors and food trucks during last weekend’s fall festival – another brainchild of Reiss’s, designed to raise money for a new city mural – several wandered through the courtyard, admiring the transformation.

Reiss is perhaps Ellendale’s biggest cheerleader, pointing out huge mums she bought locally, and recommending other Main Street businesses as shoppers passed by.

“She was one of them for sure that was ready to help me in any way,” said LeAnn Knudson, who recently bought and reopened the Ellendale Café. “She’s been one of my biggest supporters.”

It is, Reiss said, all about maintaining a vibrant downtown, even in small towns.

The city’s spring festival is already set, she said, for May 6.

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